


Competitive by Nature

by JForward



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fighting, Gen, Mario Kart, Mario Kart destroys friendships, Scratching, eyeshine, fun fact! I don't own this game, fun night in on the TARDIS, it's not angst for once!, leads to disaster of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24670759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JForward/pseuds/JForward
Summary: It's been a stressful few days, and the fam decides to unwind with a nice game of Mario Kart.Because that always went well, right?Not angsty, for once! Quite light and fun... and a little violent.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Competitive by Nature

**Author's Note:**

> I have been promising this fic to a lot of people for a very long time so I hope it lives up to your expectations.

  
"Right, Fam, where are we thinking?" slender fingers flicked switches and turned knobs with expert precision as she darted around the console, grinning at things only she could understand. The screen in front of them flickered, scrolling in a language that only the Doctor seemed to understand, all circles and weird gear-like figures. It was the only language that the TARDIS didn't seem to translate for the humans. "We could go to the fourth moon of Jupiter in the ninety-seventh century, turned the whole thing into a theme park, totally terraformed and moved into a new orbit, great fun. You have to try to virtual reality rollercoaster. Ooh! Or we could go to Neezenseff, usually around the twelfth century, they have the best snacks..."

"Er, Doctor..." Graham was sat in the console chair, leaning forward and resting elbows on knees. He was definitely looking worse for wear, tired shadows under his eyes, mud all up his legs. Ryan was leaning against the pillar next to him, looking just as knackered. Yaz, nearer to the Doctor, wandered over to leaning against the console with her hip.  
"I think this might be it, for now." he continued. The Doctor's head jolted up, catching Yaz's eyes before she whirled around to press her butt to the console.

"Sorry, what? You - you're .. done?" she asked, her face falling, wrapping her arms around herself as if in a hug, not quite able to play it off as folding her arms. "Well, I - okay. I know it was a bit of a, y'know, stressful - accidental dip in a swamp, but - okay. Do you want me to ... take you home?"  
"Wha'?" that was Yaz, raising her eyebrows, and the Doctor snapped her head around. "We ain't _quittin_ ', ya daft donut." she started to laugh.  
"Yeah." Graham grinned a little, as a slight flush rose into the Doctor's pale cheeks. Oh, thank Rassilon she hadn't launched into a great big speech like the one she'd given Donna, all those years ago.

"Oh." she smiled, as brightly as she could, "Great! So, about that moon-"  
"But I think we need a night off." Yaz jumped in, quickly.  
"Yeah! Doc, listen, running around with you is great, but I'm bloody exhausted. I think I wanna settle up with a nice cuppa, newspaper, y'know."  
"We could watch a film. Y'keep mentioning this cinema room, I ain't ever seen it." Yaz pointed out, with a smile.   
"Oh! I know!" Ryan clapped his hands, causing all of them to startle a little, maybe a little more on high-alert than they'd realised. "Mario Kart!"

"Mario Kart?" the Doctor frowned, furrows in her brows, arms more naturally folded over her chest instead of squeezing like before. "I'm sure I've heard of that before..."  
"It's a game!" he said, brightly, "I have my switch with me."  
"When on Earth did you bring that on board?" Graham questioned.  
"When on Earth." he grinned back, "Clever, Granddad. Yeah. Last time we went home I grabbed it. I only have two controllers, though."  
"Oh! If it's a console, the TARDIS will provide!" the Doctor turned, throwing a few more switches, and the sound of flight settled. "Parked in orbit in the Andromeda constellation." she added, with a beam, "Right! Let's go, I have a gaming lounge."

Ryan swung by his room to collect the console and games, then they headed down the corridor. Graham trailed behind, a hint of a scowl colouring his features.  
"I just wanted a nice cuppa and a sit down, I didn't sign up for this."  
"Tell ya what, we'll swing by the kitchen and get some drinks and snacks, yeah? Meet you at the game room!" Yaz called forward. Ryan and the Doctor were ahead, Ryan holding the console close.  
"Do you even know where this room is?" Ryan raised his brows, tone half-teasing, and for a moment it wasn't clear if he was addressing the Doctor or the rest of the fam.

"Of course I do!" the Doctor assumed it was aimed at her, throwing open another door. "Swimming pool..." and the next, "Library-pool," and then - "Aha! Game room." she threw the door open wide.   
"Right, see you in a minute." Yaz and Graham headed off to the kitchen, as Ryan and the Doctor headed into the gaming room. A long, low, impressed whistle escaped from Ryan's lips as the Doctor grinned. It was a very comfy looking room, a big sofa plonked in front of a huge TV, all squishy, with a black socket on the front of it. Ryan put down the console, starting to set it up.

"Uhh.. how do I use this?"  
"It's an auto-adaptor." the Doctor explained, from the other side of the room, "Shove it in and it'll just work."   
Quirking an eyebrow as he knelt on the floor, he took her instructions and jammed the connector in, impressed by how the tech instantly moulded around it. He was still kneeling as he powered up the console, watching as the screen immediately lit up, beam as bright as the Doctor's. She had taken off her coat and draped it over the edge of the sofa, plonking her backside onto the squishy purple fabric with all the grace of a tortoise doing a backflip.

A few minutes passed as Ryan set up the games, the sound of clinking mugs reaching the Doctor's ears. She twisted around to peer over the back of the sofa with far more flexibility than she really should've had, offering the sight of Yaz and Graham a very bright beam. They were carefully balancing snacks and mugs of tea between them, and the Doctor bounced up on her knees to take hers.   
"Alright, credit to Ryan, this is a good idea. Well done, Ryan. Point for you." the Doctor took a sip of her almost sickeningly sweet tea, wiggling her legs excitedly.

Graham put a plate of various biscuits and a bowl of crisps on the table, as well as two more cuppas. Yaz settled herself next to the Doctor, and Graham next to Yaz, smiling just a little.  
"Tight fit, Doc." he said, as he got comfy, tea on his lap. Ryan approached now, assigning and handing them each a controller, before forcing his butt in at the other end, opposite from the Doctor. He was, of course, player one.   
"Right, so, how many of you have played this before?"  
"I have. Against Sonya." Yaz piped up.  
"I know Granddad played against me."  
"Yeah, and I'm bloody terrible."  
"I'm sure I can figure it out." the Doctor was turning her controller around, "Last time I played a racing game it was a neuro-kinetic game where you're in this rig, and I won a competition to restore the kingdom of - " she looked up to six eyes fixed on her. "Not important. Sorry. This button's go?"

"Yeah. You can have tilt controls on or off, I just use the buttons, though." Ryan said, smiling. He picked out a grand prix, "We'll do one set of races for practice then we can get properly competitive, right?" he suggested, to general nods.   
Of course, Ryan played as Dry Bones; Graham picked Mario, Yaz took Peach and the Doctor settled on Yoshi (because she liked the way he said his name when she selected him.) Ryan had to admit, the setup was driving him bonkers, waiting for Graham and the Doctor to pick - anything. Finally, they got into the first race.

It took to the second race for the Doctor to get the hang of the controls; Ryan smashed the first two, Yaz taking second, the Doctor placing seemingly randomly and Graham dead last. On the third race, oh, it started to get ... competitive. Yaz could see the change in the Doctor almost immediately, the way her eyes narrowed, the competitive nature slipping out. Ryan took the third race, but the Doctor managed to swipe the fourth.  
Graham got last, of course.

"Alright, alright, we're doin' this properly now." Ryan was grinning. "Another four race grand prix, no we each pick a course, and you -" he fixed his eyes on the Doctor. "Are goin' down."  
"Bring it!" the Doctor responded, grin dangerous, and Yaz shared a rather concerned glance with Graham. She was plenty competitive but even Yaz could see that there was no chance of getting more than third place against these two.  
Taking a moment to sip his tea, Graham sighed and put down he mug, resigning himself to last place. He decided against making a joke, holding his controller loosely in his hand. 

"Right. I'll pick a course, then Granddad, Yaz, and Doctor, your course is last." he said, smirking. She nodded, eyes fixed on the screen. That, thankfully, didn't take long. And then - into the races. Graham glanced between the other three, unable to help the smile on his lips at the tension and focus, before putting his eyes back on the screen. Of course he burnt out, immediately, before crashing into a wall. He wasn't overly bothered. His eyes mostly kept drifting to the other screens; Yaz was in third, the Doctor and Ryan fighting for their first place ferociously.

The Doctor took the first, whooping and clapping, even though there was only a fraction of a second between them. Ryan swore, loudly, causing a beat of silence, then a horrified,  
"Ryan!" escaped from Graham. The Doctor and Yaz fell about laughing as he flushed, but they were back on track. Perhaps the insult to injury with the Doctor winning on his favourite course drove him on, because he wiped the floor with on the second race, the Doctor slamming her feet on the floor in her fit of rage.

The third race, though, things got ... more tense. Graham had happily enough taken his last place with every race, just enjoying the aggression. They were so focused they weren't even throwing banter back and forth, just silence except for the noise of the race going by.  
Until Graham managed to get a bullet bill.   
His character blasted through the three of them, cries of horror from both sides as he blinked in astonishment at his sudden change of fate - followed by immediately falling off the map. It didn't matter. Yaz, the only one quick enough to dodge out of the way at his approach, shot through the space and stole first.

"Yes!" she jumped up in the air, throwing her hands up, as Ryan smacked his controller onto his lap and the Doctor's jaw fell open. She snapped up third, and Ryan took his second.   
"That wasn't fair!" she shouted, "Rematch!"  
"I'm still not gonna win the grand prix." Yaz pointed out, as she sat down. Graham was sipping his tea and pointedly not commenting. They didn't seem to be mad at him for knocking them over, especially because he still ended up in last.

"Alright. This is it." Ryan said, as he moved them to the next race, "Me and you, Doctor." she nodded, firmly.  
"You're goin' down, Ryan. I'm winning this." she said, firmly. One arm slipped across, sliding the sonic onto her lap, resting it where no one could see ... just in case. The countdown seemed unbearably loud, and then they were off.

The race was just as close, until the last lap. Ryan misjudged a turn, caught a mushroom, and skidded into third. His curses were loud, the Doctor laughing, sure she'd won.  
"Sorry, Ryan - have fun in the losers circle!" she called, not sure why he let out a rough bark of a laugh, the beeping reaching her as a curse word escaped and she dropped back but Yaz was too far behind. The blue skull sent Yoshi spinning as Ryan laughed.   
"You cheated!"  
"It's part of the game, Doctor!"  
The Doctor wasn't having it. She pressed down on the sonic, the whirring filling the space for a moment - and Ryan's controller stopped working, his character coming to a stop.

"Hey!"  
"That's what you get for cheat-" she had turned to look at him, just as Ryan really lost his temper - bad luck that she was facing him as the controller he'd thrown smacked her right on the bridge of the nose. Graham and Yaz cried out in shock, the Doctor's surprising weight across their laps as she launched herself at Ryan like a feral cat. Controller and sonic landed on the floor with a thud as her hand caught the side of his face.

He scrambled up, dropping his dead controller, one hand clamping over the scratch marks that were already trickling blood down his skin.  
"What the hell you playin' at!?" he shouted, as the Doctor scrambled roughly off their laps, elbow catching Graham in the crotch - ' _oof_!' - now facing off against him. Officer instincts kicked in, Yaz standing and putting her hands on the slender shoulders. Graham was a little slower, holding an arm across Ryan's chest.  
"It's alright, son, calm down, don't let her rile you -"  
Yaz, meanwhile, was focused on the Doctor. There was a thin cut on the bridge of her nose, which was now starting to sluggishly drip orange-tinted blood.

"She started it!"  
"I did not! You cheated!"   
"Blue shells ain't cheating!"   
"I was about to win!"   
"That still don't make it cheating!"

They bristled at each other, and Graham patted Ryan on the shoulder, carefully now.  
"Alright, son, let's get you back to your room, get that scratch cleaned up-"  
"Why'd you go and scratch me for?" he demanded, less loud now but still just as angry.  
"I missed." the Doctor admitted, a little thickly as she pinched her nose, "I'm used to bein' taller."   
"So what, you were gonna punch me?"  
"No, I was gonna - um..."   
"Yeah, I thought so." he scoffed. "Come on, Granddad, let's go." 

Graham led Ryan away, the pair of them muttering. The Doctor blinked owlishly, opening and closing her mouth like a lost fish.   
"Alright, come on. Where's your room?"  
"Med bay."  
"Your room's in the med bay?" the Doctor rolled her eyes.  
"We'll go to the med bay." Yaz smiled, her distraction having worked. She'd been edging to see what the Doctor's room looked like the whole time they'd been on the ship, and it was clear the Doctor wasn't going to give up that information any time soon.

"I really didn't mean to scratch him." the Doctor was still pinching her nose as they made their way to the small, sterile room. She went over to a box of gauze on the side, pressing a piece against her nostrils, digging in a cupboard. "I was a lot taller before." she admitted, "Like ... seriously taller. I keep finding things I accidentally put on the shelves before." she leant back, and pointed at a jar of cream on a shelf out of reach. "Like that." Yaz rolled her eyes, but she was no taller than the Doctor.  
"Guess you'll have to wait for it to stop. Is it broken?"  
"No." she mumbled, "Just broke a few blood vessels, I think." the Doctor perched herself on the edge of the medbay bed.

"Well, you deserve it."  
"Excuse me?!"  
"You deserve it." Yaz repeated, leaning against the wall and folding her arms. "You were gonna lose, fair 'n square. You should apologise to him." the Doctor scoffed, and Yaz narrowed her eyes until the alien was squirming.   
"Alright, fine! I'll make it up to him." she scoffed. "Eventually." she added, in a mutter. Yaz rolled her eyes.  
"It'll have to do." she sighed. 

Ryan and Graham ended up back in Ryan's room. It didn't look too different to his room at home, including mess all over the floor. Graham kicked some dirty pants out of the way, nose wrinkled in disgust, as he sat on his bed. Picking up the box of tissues from next to the bed, he handed a wodge to the teen, who pressed it against his cheek, quickly stained with the blood. They weren't deep, but still - gross.   
"Right, we need to get those cleaned up before you get an infection. You've seen how disgusting the doc's nails are." always jammed up with oil and various other things she'd been digging in. "You have any antiseptic cream in here or anythin'?" he asked, doubting it.

"Erm, no, I don't really hang onto things like that. But there's a drawer over there that keeps havin' stuff appear in it. I think it's the TARDIS."  
Graham opened the drawer, not sure if he was being pranked, but inside it was a recognisable tube of Savlon and some gauze. He smiled, thanking the TARDIS in his head as he went over and sat next to Ryan.  
"Let me see, son." he said, gently, putting some Savlon on the fabric. Ryan took away his tissues, and Graham carefully wiped down the injuries.

"Are you gonna tell me off?" he asked, mulishly.  
"What? No. Why?"  
"Because you were right! Doc was playing totally unfair."   
Ryan beamed and clapped his granddad on the shoulder.  
"Ah, I'll make up with her eventually." he allowed, with something like a laugh, shaking his head.

"I'm sure you will." Graham stifled a yawn. "This looks clean enough, son. I'm gonna go get some sleep. I'll see you in the mornin', yeah?" he said. Ryan nodded, holding the gauze on his cheek.   
"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Granddad." he said, maybe feeling a little guilty that his game had caused a fight. He got comfortable, and some time later there was a tap on the door. Yaz's voice snaked through the gap;  
"Ryan, it's me. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." she stepped inside. He was wearing his pyjamas, playing on his phone in bed, glancing over at her. His cheek had stopped throbbing, at least. She shut the door behind herself, smiling.  
"How's your face?"   
"Yeah, it's okay. Bit sore." he admitted. "How's, uh, how's the doc?"  
"Fixin' the TARDIS. Supposedly." she admitted, "Her nose stopped bleeding and I couldn't convince her to go to bed, so..."  
He grimaced a little at the mention of the Doctor's nosebleed.   
"I really didn't mean to hit her right on the nose."  
"Nah, it's fine. She deserved it." he gave her a grin.  
"Granddad said that too." he added, with a laugh, "Feelin' pretty good for my ego. You off to bed?"  
"Yeah." she admitted. "Are you gonna apologise to her?" he hesitated, then nodded.  
"In the mornin'." he murmured. She nodded, giving him a quick hug, then slipped out of his room.

He messed around on his phone for a couple hours, but for some reason he couldn't sleep. Finally, giving a sigh, he got up, stretching himself out. Cup of water. His throat felt dry as anything, so that would get him fixed right up and he'd be able to sleep. Patting the warm patch on his cheek - that was good, right? He got up and padded out of the room. The TARDIS was dark, only a very low orange glow in the corridor to light his way. Knowing where the kitchen was - even if the TARDIS had a tendency to move the rooms around, that one tended to stay in place - something he was grateful for.

As he got closer to the dark room, however, there was - a hiss? His hands tensed around his phone, shoulders tight. What was it? What awful creature had snuck onto the TARDIS? He moved closer, slower, pressing his back to the wall. There was a strange, horrifying slurping noise... and then the hiss again. Hand hovered over his phone, considering calling Yaz, or Graham, or even the Doctor, but no. He was tough. He could handle this, right, even if he was going to have to fight an alien or ... something. The kitchen was completely dark, only the low glow in the corridor filtering in just a little.

He peered around the corner as soon as the hissing stopped.

From the gloom, something caught the orange light. Something shone; two eyes, peering through the dark, looking right at him.  
So maybe the whole big man can handle anything speech was a lie, because the scream that escaped was high and terrified and maybe belonged better to a nine year old girl than the beefy guy who actually let loose.  
Of course, it was only compounded by the scream that came back to him, just as loud, not quite as high as his. There was a loud clatter of something metal hitting the floor, and his panicked hand found the torch button and pointed his phone at the shape.

The Doctor was lit in sharp relief, her pupils shining silver. She threw up a hand, squinting, to protect herself from the beaming light.  
"Ryan!?"  
"What the hell are you doing?!" he exclaimed, hand on his chest, "Oh my days, Doctor, I thought you were a monster!" his hand finally found the light switch, shaking a little more than he wanted to admit, and thank god that creepy shine ... vanished. Turning off his torch, Ryan rubbed the heel of his hand against his chest. "My heart's still racin'." 

She suddenly burst out laughing, bending down and picking up the squirty cream can that had fallen to the floor when she was startled. He couldn't help but join in, seeing the bruising on the bridge of her nose.   
"Were you just - eating squirty cream in the dark?" he asked, as the chuckles escaped him.   
"Yeaahh, maybe. How's your face?" she couldn't help but giggle.   
"Sore. Yours?"  
"Sore." she hesitated a moment then reached into the fridge, throwing a second can to him. "I'm sorry."  
"Yeah, me too." he grinned, shaking his head and squirting some cream into his mouth. "Truce?"

"Alright. But we're going to have a rematch."  
"Only if I get to confiscate the sonic."  
"Deal."


End file.
